More December Updates

Here are some other fun, non-Christmas stories.

Do you remember the post about Ci-Cis? Well two days after I posted it, we had our Sunday School Class Christmas party. As I was touring the little girl's room, I noticed a familiar looking stuffed animal...just a hint of familiarity, like seeing an old friend from elementary school after 25 years...but in reverse. Because, what I saw was Scott's Ci-Ci, brand new! I ran to our car to get ours and take a picture of the new and the old. (Scott has just informed me that the name of his animal is spelled CC. We went through all the variations - Sea-Sea, Ci-Ci, See-See, CC - and he chose the simple CC. I'll have to remember that in the future.)



I also have an update to the loose tooth story. It's a good thing I took time away from Christmas to make a tooth fairy pillow...


...because the tooth came out about three days later. Scott was licking chocolate off of the wooden spoon and that knocked it out. Luckily he didn't swallow it. We were on our way to Atlanta that night, but wouldn't see Nana & Pop until morning, so we had to tell the Tooth Fairy not to come until Sunday night, so Scott could show them his tooth. Derrick said that he woke in the middle of the night and had to wrestle the tooth out of the Tooth Fairy's hand. So glad he was there to rescue it!



There is no story with this one. Just another picture of a little girl who loves her dog.

Amanda Walking!

As I think about the great month that we have just had, I realize how much "blogable" material I've had that I've missed posting. Instead of sitting at the computer, I've been shopping, baking, wrapping, reading, packing and traveling. We just returned from a week in Texas with Derrick's family. I'm now unpacking and organizing and wanted to take some time with the highlights of December that had nothing to do with Christmas.

Our biggest event actually was Thanksgiving weekend. On November 27, Amanda took her first steps while we were at my parent's house. What a gift for all of us to see these first precious steps and for me to have a camera handy to capture it on film.



It's a funny story. She had been on the verge of walking since early October, but it took the incentive of Christmas decorations, specifically breakable balls, to actually make it happen. We were decorating my parent's house, and Amanda spotted the breakable balls across the room. She started saying "Ball, ball" and headed in that direction. I think she was so focused on the shiny balls that she didn't even realize she was walking. We kept moving her starting point back further and letting her walk again and again. Her one focus was getting those balls.

I should have seen it as a sign of things to come. This is my 6th Christmas with children, but my first where we had to decorate around the baby. All of my ornaments are three feet off the ground, and I found Amanda today climbing a chair to reach the globes on top of the piano. She is a mess. Here are two more recent "walking" pictures.

Five...Seven...But not Six

Merry Christmas everyone! To you, it may be December 13, but for us today was Dec. 25! We trekked to Atlanta to celebrate Christmas with my parents and brother and his family. When we were together at Thanksgiving, my uncle commented that 3 children + 3 children = 9 or 12 children. It's new math and was definitely the case today.

No family gathering is complete without the required family photos. It sure does sound like a great idea, but it is a most difficult feat to accomplish.

We began the photo session while Amanda was being changed and the other five were sitting quietly on the couch. The bribe...if you sit here, you'll get to open your Christmas presents. About the time Amanda arrived, Charlie bumped Andrew in the nose and he ran off crying, so this was the picture we got. Five isn't bad. If only they will sit until Andrew returns.


Reese ran off and still no sign of Andrew's return. You can see Charlie about to make his escape.

Isn't this a cute picture of the two Christines...Callie Christine and Amanda Christine

Uncle Geoffrey decided to try to liven things up a bit. Amanda was sure excited about him being there. Can you see Reese making another escape? Andrew is still upset about his hurt nose.

We'll stick with smaller groups. Here is a great shot of the three older kids sporting the socks that Nana gave them.

We decided to try again a few minutes later after a few gifts were opened. Do you like the addition of the beautiful towel? A drink was spilled in the meantime.

We gave Nana a robot costume for Christmas and Andrew is trying it on for size. I'm not sure it will fit Nana, but it fits him just great...how convenient! Amanda is a hungry camper and would rather be with Daddy.

What happened to Charlie? Look at the bottom right part of the picture and you can just barely see him.

Forget the kid pictures, here is a pretty good family picture.

Another Christmas Card Reject

Above you'll see another Christmas Card reject. It was the one that I really wanted to use, but just couldn't figure out the practical way to print it. You see, I made it in a 4X6 size, but invitation envelopes are slightly smaller. (**Yes, I really made it myself - my first creation from my Creative Memories software!)

I considered cutting the card, but that would mean purchasing a paper cutter (which is on my Christmas list, but I probably won't get it until my birthday.) I thought of other options, but seeing that it is already Dec 11, the easiest option was to print a ready-made card at Sams and insert a friendly letter. So, if you are on my list, that's what you'll get. If you don't get one, send me an email and I'd love to send you one.

As for this card, I'll display it on my Blog and Facebook and that will be fine.

Christmas Card Rejects

It's that time of year again...Christmas Card Photo time! 'Tis the season to bribe the kids with something sweet just to get those sweet smiles.

This year it only took me two sessions to get decent pictures. Last year it took three.

We were blessed with a beautiful, warm day today, sandwiched between two days of rain and a low tomorrow of 24 degrees.

Here are some of our rejected pictures:

Yes, Scott is holding Amanda in the tree. And, yes, he has a really good grip on her. And, yes, she started to slide after the third picture. So, I abandoned that idea.

loose tooth!!

I found out tonight that we are about to enter another phase of parenting - Tooth Fairy!

I almost never brush Scott's teeth any more, but he asked me to tonight and I discovered that one of his bottom teeth is loose. He had no idea. I guess he just didn't know what to expect. But when I said something, he was thrilled! Several kids in his class have lost teeth, and he is just waiting to be added to the chart.

I hear rumors that the Tooth Fairy gives $20 for the first lost tooth - yikes!! That translates to $60 for our family over six years. If you set the bar so high for tooth #1, what will you give for the rest of the teeth? Let's see...20 baby teeth at $20 per tooth times 3 kids = $1200.

We have decided to go the "gold route," i.e. the gold $1 coins that you can get at the bank. They are so special and cool looking and are certainly within our budget. I checked with Derrick tonight to make sure we had some. After all, I expect that Scott will be working on that tooth all day tomorrow until it comes out.

Maybe by the 25th he'll be singing, "All I want for Christmas is my bottom right tooth..."

Three Kids - Three Loves

Way back in 2004, when Derrick and my parenting skills were pretty green, someone suggested to us that Scott needed some sort of "lovie." We sifted through our small pile of stuffed animals and found a really cute teddy bear that we promptly named Bob the Bear and put it in his crib. He was really happy with it and all was well in our house.

A few days later, another suggestion came thorough that it may be a good idea to have two such friends, so one could be washed while the other comfort. The selection was more limited, but we found an alternate animal that was about the same size as Bob. The animal was a pig that looked more like a bunny rabbit and was an interesting shape. Guess which one he latched onto and which one was rejected! Yep, the Pig that we named Piggy became his favorite.


(Here is a picture of piggy when he was still pink and new. His fur looks nothing like this now.)

About nine months later, Scott (age 12 months or so) announced to us that the animal's name was Cici. Cici has been a major part of our family since, even appearing in our Christmas card photo one year.



Fast forward 18 months and Andrew arrived. Thinking we knew what we were doing, we gave him every animal from the basket, but he loved none of them. Instead, he found a blanket that he loved, and we called it "Andrew's blanket." Sure enough, 9 months later, Andrew announced that his blanket was also named "Cici." Well, that sure makes things easy when we head to bed - "Does everyone have your Cicis?" is a common question around here.



The only problem with this "one friend" situation is that we often have a child crying at our washing maching, desperately watching the window to see Cici floating through the cycle. It isn't such a problem any more, but was certainly awful when we had to wash bedding in the middle of the night.

So here we are in December 2009 and our little Amanda has no stuffed animal or blanket to declare as her love. Instead, she LOVES her pacifier. She is our first pacifier child and probably loves it so much because I was determined not to have another thumb sucker. The best thing about this love is we have about 10 pacifiers around the house. It doesn't matter if one goes in the wash - there is always another around.

Two days ago, Amanda spied a paci on the floor and started saying "a oh, a oh, a oh." Thus, she has named the paci "a oh." If you ask where her "a oh" is, she will look for it. If you ask her to pick her "a oh" off the floor, she goes right to it.

So, now we have two Cicis and an a-oh to make sure to pack on our next vacation. These are the kinds of things you just don't leave home without.

Thanksgiving Celebration

It's one week before Thanksgiving, and I can already say that we've had our first feast and celebration. Scott's school hosted a Thanksgiving Feast for parents and it was wonderful. I took Andrew and Amanda and we feasted on Turkey Casserole, Sweet Potato casserole, Green Beans, Dressing and Apple Pie.

But the kids were the highlight of the morning. They were wearing Indian Vests on which they had painted symbols, head bands, noodle necklaces and medallions. Each child also chose an Indian name. Scott was "Clever Lightning." He says that he, Ben, Bo and Gracie are the fastest kids in Kindergarten, so he wanted to be Lightning and his teacher suggested Clever.


Aren't they just darling - makes me want to be in Kindergarten again.

Scott with his friends Daniel and Bo.

Scott spent the time to pick through the alphabet noodles to make his name on his band.

Here we are posing in front of the "river." What I loved most about this unit is that it was packed with learning, but the kids thought they were playing the entire time. For instance, the canoes that we are standing in front of here were laced together by the kids (fine motor skills.) Then, they were decorated with shapes in a pattern (Math) and finally the kids wrote their Indian Name on a paper next to their boats. Scott's boat is behind my head, but his writing is the big bubble with the purple outline just above my head. You can see that we have a long way to go with his writing, but he certainly has improved since Day 1 of Kindergarten. At least this word is written left to right, even though many of the letters are upside down and backward.

Crazy Andrew

Andrew is so full of personality that I can hardly keep up with him, especially right before bed. I took these pictures the other night after showers. The boys spiked their hair. Even without gel or mousse, Andrew's hair was still spiked the next morning.

Today he ran into the room asking me to tie his "pertility belt" - "This is where I store my guns and weapons." I smiled and tied his Home Depot utility belt, where an adult keeps nails while working.

SOOOOOO excited about his spiked hair!


I have a good friend who always says that God made him cute for a reason - who could stay mad at this face for long?

"Mom! Take a picture of my foot!"

A perfect Saturday

As we inch closer to the hectic holiday season, I am most thankful to have had the perfect Saturday. The day was beautiful - not a cloud in the sky, jeans and t-shirt weather. We woke late (really! - it was almost 8:00) and ate a leisurely breakfast. Derrick enjoyed being the short-order chef, serving eggs and biscuits to one and a bagel with cheese to another.

We had no plans, so we decided to head to the library for a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." Miss Jessie (our favorite librarian) served popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans. The only food missing was toast. We then settled down to watch the movie. What fun!


Amanda was all over the place! Here Derrick is trying to rein her in.


We left the library and headed to a nearby park for some pictures and play time. The slide is so long and so fun. Derrick plans to bring wax next time we come to make the slide even faster, but I'm afraid the kids will sail clear to the parking lot.









I think the shoals are the perfect spot for a Christmas picture, so you may see this background again on our Christmas card.



We came home in time for a nap on the couch.



I spent some time painting shutters and now have six of our ten shutters painted. The final two will require an extension ladder, so I'll certainly get some pictures.

Veterans Day

In honor of Veteran's Day, especially to Pop, a Navy Veteran, Scott has a song for you:



It is actually the "public school" version of a favorite around our house. We always end it with "I'm in the Lord's Army," but it was fitting for Scott to learn "I'm in the old Navy" at school today and sing it to Pop over the phone when he got home.

We honor and pray for all veterans this day.

The best parenting book

I simply love that God's word is living and active. I've been praying Hebrews 4:9, 11-12 for me this year, specifically that I would find my rest in His word and have a willing heart and discipline to seek the Lord daily by reading His word. And God has been so faithful to meet me there.

I also love that I may read a passage and discern one thing and others may read the same passage and learn something different. I am studying Genesis with a group of women and one question today was: "Reread Genesis 17. Name at least four important attributes of God illustrated in this chapter. Which of these attributes is most meaningful to you in your current situation?"

The answers were varied and insightful and wonderful.
Faithful
Personal
Gracious
Forgiving
Merciful
Everlasting
All-Seeing, All-Knowing, All-Hearing
El Shaddai, God Almighty
Sovereign

Mine was nothing like these. I saw God parenting Abraham.

1. God gives Abraham a special name that has meaning for Abraham's future (v. 5)

2. God gives specific instructions to Abraham about how He expects Abraham to be obedient (v. 10-14)

3. God is patient with Abraham's questions and misunderstandings, but he is firm in his declarations of what is to happen (v. 19 - "yes, but")

4. God affirms Abraham's desires and fears (v. 20 - "I have heard you)


I wonder, why do I need that bookshelf of parenting books when all I need is here in God's Word?

Go Attack!

There is nothing better than to end the soccer season with cookie cake (yellow and black icing - our team colors)...



...and a trophy.



Here they are one more time: Scott, Carley, Coach Chris, Cooper, Sophia, Tyler and Carter

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. It was the first year that we actually Trick or Treated. In the past, our church has had a "Trunk or Treat" in the parking lot, but not this year. We went to my parent's house, which brought back a flood of memories of my Trick or Treating days in Brookwood Hills. We selected just a few streets, but still came home with a bag full of candy and lots of great memories. Some memorable comments came from Andrew:

He only wanted to take one piece of candy from each house, even when the people offered him more. Finally, we got to a house where they were handing out snickers and the woman insisted that he take two. I told him those were Nana's favorite, so he took the second and gave it to her.

While we were walking between houses, he said in a most excited voice, "Mom, why can't it be Christmas every day!"

It began to rain and we were not quite home, but Andrew declared, "Halloween is over. Time to go home."

He ran around like Superman and I think he really thought he could fly.




Scott wanted to be a polished rock, so we asked our neighbor (a professional rock collector) for suggestions, and he came up with an Agate Carnelian. This is an orange (Scott's favorite color) quartz. He received the most interesting comments from the houses we visited. I'm sure he was one of the first Polished Rocks to visit Brookwood Hills on All Hallows Eve.

This was the picture (and smile) that I worked so hard to get.



Here is the smile that dominates the pictures I took. It must be a "polished rock" smile.



Amanda was (and is) our sweet panda. Amanda the Panda. She even wore special Chinese shoes in honor of the Panda homeland. I was most excited about this costume; especially finding the hat that she can wear all winter. If only she would keep it on her head!

For Cora

Here is my attempt this morning at seeing if Amanda could look as cute as our friend Cora in a bow. The conclusion: Her hair just doesn't have the personality that Cora's has. Plus, the bow only lasted 10 minutes. Nine of those minutes was breakfast, where she was so interested in her food that she did not take the time to explore things on her head. Approximately 24 seconds after tearing off her bib, she started working on the bow.



Since this experiment was such a failure, we'll see tomorrow if she will keep her Halloween costume on long enough for a picture.

(A few hours later, I took this picture - much better! This really captures Amanda. She loves to drive her car.)